New observations reveal what’s inside the mysterious deposits hidden beneath giant formations on the Red Planet
SPACE
Scientists have finally figured out what’s hidden inside mysterious deposits buried beneath Mars’s equator. Using new data gathered by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter, scientists have discovered pockets of water ice that stretch for several kilometres underneath the Red Planet’s surface.
The water ice was found beneath the Medusae Fossae formation. Mars Express has examined this part of the planet before, but when the orbiter last carried out observations of this area, 15 years ago, the results raised more questions than they answered.
Back then, Mars Express revealed that there were massive deposits estimated to be 2.5km (1.6 miles) under the formation, but no one knew what these deposits might be. Now, new results show that the deposits are water ice and that they’re thicker than previously thought: an incredible 3.7km (2.3 miles) thick.
In fact, there’s so much ice buried there that, if it all melted, it would cover Mars in a layer of water 1.5-2.7m (4.9-8.9ft) deep. That’s enough water to fill Earth’s Red Sea.
Published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the findings mark the discovery of the most water ever found in this part of the Red Planet. The water could be key to future human missions to Mars, which would land
